“Today’s news from the ACC could certainly halt or slow down realignment, at least at the BCS level,” UC athletic director Whit Babcock said Monday in a text message. / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

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Whit Babcock has an Enquirer story displayed in his office. He looks at it and offers a dark chuckle. The headline from the story published Oct, 24, 2011 -- the day UC hired Babcock as its athletic director -- says, “Stepping Into Uncertainty.’’

Uncertainty? Babcock bought a four-story house with no stairs. The Big East was crumbling, fast. The Bearcats reaction was to play mediator. Their idea, fronted by then-president Gregory Williams, was to try to keep the peace, and a majority of the schools. It was, as it turned out, a futile and naïve exercise from which UC still staggers.

Babcock has to feel like a guy running a marathon on a treadmill. Or so you’d think.

“We’ve got a big desire to keep moving forward,’’ he said Tuesday. “What can we do to make UC better every day? How do we best position ourselves in our conference and nationally?’’

It’s a fine strategy. If you see yourself as Big Time, it’s the only strategy.

The latest kick to the Bearcats head came Monday. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its members all had signed what’s called a “grant of media rights’’ binding them for the next 14 years. That means that if a school leaves, media money from all its home games stay with the ACC. That doesn’t count the league’s current $50 million exit fee.

No school is going to lose that kind of cash. No school is going to leave. So much for Cincinnati’s ACC dreams.

The ACC could expand, but no one believes it will. The Big 12 has 10 schools now, but is fat and happy with that, and has no desire to slice its pie twice more, just for the sake of two divisions and a conference title game in football. Why would Texas or Oklahoma want to have to win a Big 12 title game to have a chance at a national title?

UC is stuck, still and again.

The Bearcats are in the same game of musical chairs that started a few years back. The difference is, their likelihood of getting a chair isn’t as good now as it was then. As Babcock puts it, “We had a two-month-to-two-year plan. Now, it’s a one-year-to-five-year plan.’’ Meaning: How do you feel about watching Memphis, Temple and SMU at Nippert Stadium for half a decade?

Babcock says plans to doll up Ol’ Lady Nippert remain in full effect, at an estimated cost of $70 million. That makes sense, no matter what happens, unless you believe Cincinnati belongs in the MAC. Even if UC can’t run with the big dogs, it’s going to make sure it has a fine porch looks nice. Just in case.

Babcock explains it coolly and logically. It might not be what UC fans want to hear; imagine spending the last two years being left at the altar every other day. But it’s definitely what is needed. Someone has to locate the solid ground.

He says the money dedicated to Nippert will be raised through tickets, suites and contributions, and financed over 20 years. Akron has suites; Toledo has suites. Why can’t UC? Babcock reasons, “If (the project) costs $4 million a year and we can generate $6 million, we have $2 million for other things.’’

Plus, if you aspire to the big time, it’s the only thing to do. Now, all the athletic director has to do is figure out who will shell out cash wads for a home schedule that includes Houston and, in 2014, Tulane and Tulsa.

A huge problem is perception. Perception is reality. After a fun run in the Big East that included two BCS bowls and a steady diet of home basketball against Georgetown, UConn, Villanova et al, how does Babcock convince the faithful that home-and-home with Navy is a good thing? Or, more precisely, a thing worth their money?

Athletic directors in 2013 don’t direct athletics. Not exactly. Their ability to schedule opponents is an afterthought, compared with their skill at asking donors for millions of dollars. One of these days, perhaps, Whit Babcock will be able simply to run an athletic department, and not a never-ending mile.

That time isn’t now. You can’t even see it from here. Conference realignment left UC in the ditch. On Monday, the ACC shoveled some dirt into the ditch. Babcock is seeking a hose and some soap. “All we can do is control what we can,’’ he says.